Project Manager, Group Benefits Operations

The Project Manager, Group Benefits Operations leads cross-functional Group Benefits Operations initiatives that improve plan sponsor and plan member outcomes, service performance, operational effectiveness, risk management, workforce readiness, and financial results. The role applies governance, produces decision-ready insights, and coordinates delivery across Operations, Product, Technology, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Procurement, and external partners. Position Responsibilities: • Lead moderate-to-large Group Benefits Operations initiatives through intake, prioritization, planning, implementation, stabilization, and benefits realization. • Partner with operational leaders across Group Benefits to define problems, requirements, outcomes, operational impacts, and sustainable solutions. • Maintain an integrated view of active and pipeline initiatives, including ownership, milestones, dependencies, risks, costs, benefits, and leadership decisions. • Establish project governance and operating rhythms, including integrated plans, decision logs, risk and issue registers, change control, executive reporting, forums, escalations, and action follow-through. • Lead initiatives that improve plan sponsor and plan member experiences, service performance, quality, capacity, and end-to-end operational processes. • Identify and implement process improvement, digitization, automation, data, and AI opportunities that simplify work, strengthen controls, improve scalability, and deliver measurable benefits. • Partner with Product and Technology to translate operational needs into requirements and coordinate testing, change management, training, communications, cutover, and post-implementation stabilization. • Support service recovery, workforce, and capacity initiatives by validating data, identifying root causes, assessing resource impacts, coordinating remediation, and escalating material risks or delays. • Support business cases, budgets, forecasts, resource plans, and benefit measures; monitor financial performance and expected value. • Coordinate external partner and vendor deliverables, performance, risks, dependencies, and contractual obligations with business and control functions. • Ensure projects meet legal, regulatory, operational risk, privacy, information-security, records-management, accessibility, and Company requirements; track corrective actions, control remediation, evidence, approvals, and commitments through closure. • Handle highly sensitive, confidential, privileged, or NDA-protected information with discretion and sound judgment, sharing it strictly on a need-to-know basis. • Build collaborative relationships, clarify roles and decision rights, resolve competing priorities, and drive accountability across Group Benefits and enterprise functions. Required Qualifications: • Post-secondary degree or diploma in business, operations, finance, technology, project management, or a related discipline; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered. • Five or more years of progressive experience leading complex projects, operational improvement, or transformation initiatives in financial services, insurance, benefits administration, or another regulated environment. • Experience in Group Benefits operations, products, claims, benefits administration, plan sponsor servicing, plan member servicing, billing, eligibility, or plan design. • PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, Lean Six Sigma, or an equivalent project management or process-improvement certification. • Experience with Microsoft Project, Planner, Visio, Power BI, SharePoint, Jira, or equivalent project and reporting platforms. Preferred Qualifications: • Demonstrated full-lifecycle delivery experience, including scope, requirements, schedules, budgets, resources, dependencies, risks, issues, change control, implementation, stabilization, and benefits realization. • Strong understanding of operations and service delivery, including customer journeys, transaction processing, service levels, quality, workflows, capacity, backlogs, and operational readiness. • Proven ability to apply portfolio and project governance, support integrated plans, manage risks and issues, define measures, and produce concise executive reporting and recommendations. • Experience contributing process redesign, automation, digitization, data, workflow, system implementation, or AI-enabled change in an operational environment. • Strong business and financial acumen, including business cases, cost-benefit analysis, budgeting, forecasting, resource planning, vendor assessment, and benefits measurement. • Working knowledge of operational risk, compliance, privacy, information security, records management, accessibility, third-party risk, and controls in a regulated environment. • Strong analytical, communication, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder-influence skills, including the ability to engage senior leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority. • High degree of integrity, professionalism, and discretion when handling highly sensitive, confidential, privileged, or NDA-protected information. • Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365 and project, collaboration, reporting, and data-visualization tools. When you join our team: • We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want. • We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words. • As part of our global team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see. #LI-HYBRID The role being advertised is an existing vacancy. About Manulife and John Hancock Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html . Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer At Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. W